FORCES AND ENERGY ACTIVITIES

GRAVITY

Objects always fall towards the centre of the Earth.
The force that makes things fall to the ground is called gravity.

HOW FORCES ACT

Normally, forces act when two objects come into contact.
Sometimes forces act when there is no contact between objects.
This happens with magnetic force.
A magnet can attract or repel objects from a distance.
Magnets have two ends, or poles.

• When we put the same poles of two magnets together, they repel each other.
• When we put the different poles of two magnets together, they attract.

Force of attraction: A magnet pulls iron objects towards it.

Force of repulsion: Repulsion means when things push apart from each other.

FORCES AND MOVEMENT

Forces make objects start moving.
They also make them stop moving.
To move a football, we put force on the ball with our foot.
If nothing stops the ball, it continues to move.
However, it moves more and more slowly until it stops.
This is because a force on the ground acts on the ball and slows it down.
This force is called friction.

REMEMBER

FORCES
Forces have different effects on objects.
They start things moving.
They stop things moving.
They change their shape.
They break things.